People take part in a demonstration outside the La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago, Chile, on August 02, 2014, to protest against Israel's military campaign in Gaza and show their support to the Palestinian people. (AFP Photo / Martin Bernetti)

Thousands of people have taken to the streets around the world over the weekend to protest Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip. The largest demonstrations were held in Australia, France and Chile.

Thousands of people gathered for a pro-Palestinian rally in
Sydney, Australia on Sunday, calling for an immediate end to the
Israeli military operation, which has so far cost the lives of
over 1,700 Palestinians and 60 Israelis. They were chanting
“Free, free Palestine.”

Many Jewish people around the world don’t support the Israeli
crackdown on Gaza, Peter Slezak from Independent Australian
Jewish Voices told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"The state of Israel does not represent all Jews,”
Slezak said. “I am one of very many Jews who is horrified and
deeply ashamed by what the Jewish state is doing in my name. I
stand with the people of Gaza and with Palestine as a
whole."

New South Wales Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham resigned from the NSW
Parliamentary Friends of Israel (PFI), saying that the group
“failed to raise or discuss … in any way at all” the
present conflict in Gaza.

“As a representative of the people of NSW and the Greens, I
cannot allow my willingness to engage with the PFI to be
perceived in any way as an endorsement of Israel's recent extreme
violence and criminal actions in Gaza,” he said.

Also on Sunday, around 10,000 people gathered in Sydney for a
peaceful, pro-Israeli rally.

"Every single person here is talking of peace. Today is about
singing, camaraderie and friendship," Rabbi Eli Feldman who
attended the rally, told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"The overwhelming sentiment of Jewish people here and in
Israel is for love and peace, which is in contrast with the
chants and anger we saw in other rallies last week."

The demonstrators were waving Palestinian flags and banners,
urging Israel to end its military operation in the Gaza Strip.

"We are asking President Michelle Bachelet to expel Israel's
ambassador, and to end ties with Israel. We want the world to
know Chileans have stood against this Israeli massacre,"
Mauricio Abu-Gosh, head of the Palestinian Association of Chile,
told AFP.

On July 30 Chile and El Salvador recalled their ambassadors from
Tel Aviv. The move follows similar actions by Ecuador, Brazil and
Peru, who have also recalled their ambassadors.

Bolivian authorities went further in condemning the Israeli
violence in the Gaza Strip. Also on July 30, the country declared
Israel to be a “terrorist state” and renounced a visa
exemption agreement with the country.

Canceling the 1972 agreement which allowed Israelis to travel
freely to Bolivia “means, in other words, we are declaring
[Israel] a terrorist state,” the country's president, Evo
Morales, said.

Paris: Thousands of pro-Gaza protesters march, defying ban

On Saturday, at least 11,500 people flooded the streets of Paris
to express sympathy with Palestinians in Gaza and demand that
Israeli authorities stop the violence in the region, police
sources said, as cited by France-24 TV.

The crowd was chanting, “Israel go home, Palestine is not
yours!” and “Lift the Gaza blockade now!”

“It is important for me and my family to distance ourselves
from the occupation [of Palestinian territories] and the Israeli
government’s policies,” Ruth, an Israeli citizen from Tel
Aviv, told France-24. She joined the protest, carrying posters
written in Hebrew.

The demonstration, however, saw none of the violence that have
recently swept the city which prompted French authorities to
issue a ban on pro-Palestinian marches in several
cities.

The protesters not only expressed their disagreement with French
and Israeli authorities, but also their frustration with the
international community, saying that they have not reacted to the
Gaza violence.

Nearly 50 people have been arrested, local Express newspaper
reports, citing a Paris police representative who spoke to Europe
1 radio. It said the arrests were made after a group of
demonstrators headed to a Jewish neighborhood as they
"clearly trying to provoke confrontations."

‘This is genocide’: Malaysia joins global protests against Israel

Thousands of people rallied in the center of Kuala Lumpur of
Saturday to demand an end to the ongoing Israeli assault on the
Gaza strip.

“They are targeting children, women and [even] pregnant
women,” Iman Husi, a PhD student at Universiti Islam
Antrabangsa (UIA), told the Malay Mail online, "Under the
rubble, a baby was found still breast-feeding but the mother was
already dead,” “This is not war... this is genocide.”

Protests demanding an end to Israel's operation in Gaza have been
gripping the world for at least two weeks.

In the latest attack on Sunday, an airstrike by the IDF killed at
least 10 people and injured more than 30 others in a UN school in
the town of Rafah, southern Gaza, medics said. The missile struck
the entrance of the school. Israeli authorities have declined to
comment on the incident.